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Topic: MTB tires (Read 6265 times)

Need some advise on some tires for my MTB. I'm looking to ride my MTB in some weekend charity events and some two to five day tours and want to get more of a road tire . I still want to get off of the beaten path once and awhile but will mainly stick to the pavement.

Why not take both dirt and road tires and enjoy the best of both worlds. For a five day ride depending where you are going you should bring an extra tire anyhow so you would be taking two extras instead of one.

My wife and I are going to be riding around the Klamath Basin in early September, self supported. There will be 80 plus miles on the old OC&E railroad bed and some National Forest dirt roads and trails, and a lot of paved roads including Crater Lake (if the snow ever melts).

For my wife's MTB she will have 1 5/8 x 26 dirt tires and a 1" Hutchinson Top Slick 2 front and 1 1/4" Panaracer T Serve rear street tires. I will be running a very similar tire set up on my cyclocross bike with 700mm rims.

After a week of riding, hiking, and birding she will take the Amtrak back to Portland and I will follow the Klamath River with lots of side trips on National Forest roads using my dirt tires and eventually end up on the Pacific Coast and head down Highways 101 and 1 to Moro Bay, California with street tires. And if I see a dirt or gravel road that looks like it needs exploring it takes only a few minutes to change tires for the adventure.

There are several inner tubes that can span narrow to wide tires so you only need one extra tube or how ever many extra tubes you normally carry.

Thanks for the info, I checked into the Marathon and you are right they would have to order the tires. The LBL said there wasn't much call for them in my area. Not surprised there doesn't seem to be many bicyclist in the area. There is a LBL near my work and will check to see if they have in stock. Thanks for all the info I appreciate it.

WOW thanks for all the info. Never thought I would have to carry an extra tire though I can see where it may be necessary. I'm classified as a senior and don't plan on to many self contained tours at least in the beginning. I hope your upcoming trip will be enjoyable and I'm a little envious. Thanks for all info I will definitely remember this when I finally get out there for a couple of days.

Smooth mountain bike tires work perfectly well on everything but slick mud and very soft dirt where knobby tires have the advantage. Put some smooth tires on your mountain bike and ride it on road and off road. I frequently ride my 23 and 25mm wide road bike tires on gravel roads and short sections of dirt road. They work just fine.

bobbirob22

using 2 different tires is not something i would do. why not just get a set of on road/ off road tires? they do have these available almost anywhere, smoothe centers and knobby sides they can handle on road and off roag really well and last a long time too...

I've never used them for a multi-day event, but my mixed surface trail bike has Schwalbe Smart Sams and I'm very pleased with performance on paved surfaces as well as relatively stable turf, gravel and packed soil trails. They fall short when you get into serious mud or deep sandy surfaces.

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